Wasps V Worcester: Post Match Thoughts.

[Wombles]

Escape to victory.

Discipline again (does that sound familiar?)

Tactics found wanting.

We won, it is 4 points that keeps us in with a shout of champions cup rugby next year, however that was an entirely forgettable game with a victory that has the feel of kissing your sister.

First 40 I was quite pleased, yes we were profligate in the red zone, but physically we were much improved and Robson was on point giving a good example on how to play wet weather rugby. Not over convincing, but good value for our lead.

Second 40? Well Lee and the coaches are going to have to shoulder some blame here, why we stopped competing the breakdown I will never know! We simply invited quick ball for Worcester, and from this gain line success, missed tackles and points were shipped with a worrying regularity. Wrong tactics that nearly cost league points. The coaches need to accept they got away with this one, but resolve not to make such tactical mistakes again.

Next, discipline..again! This is like an unwanted guest at a party. You can still enjoy the event, but an underlying frustration remains. This must be addressed, it continues to rear its head, and it cannot be allowed to continue. a bonus point was left out there because of this.

The red card was spot on, and that is Morris' season done. I could not be a bigger supporter of this journey to reduce head injuries, but it is becoming harder and harder to excuse the players now. They know the rules, it has been there long enough, and it is time someone gave the players heads a collective wobble so they finally learn to tackle properly.

This next weekend break could not come at a better time. We are thankfully getting points whilst making errors, but we need to learn to move forward.

[hopwood]

Disappointed with Fekitoa.
I expect more from an experienced international rugby player.
He makes poor decisions. Goes beyond what’s necessary.
Seems to play as if he’s trying to constantly live up to the All Black label, but for me lacks a rugby brain.
As an experienced player he should be leading by example and showing the way to the youngsters, but is more often than not guilty of needless infringements and poor decision making.

We missed Jimmy last season and this season we desperately miss Ryan Mills and his rugby brain.

Also...I hope a quality 15 is on our shopping list.
We are really light in this area. I would have bitten your hand off if Mike Brown had become available for a couple of seasons.
I’m not doubting the effort put in by our 15’s, but they lack a certain composure and presence.

We’re a mid-table team very much in transition.
But transitioning towards what?
We need more brains and more class in key areas.

[Wombles]

Apparently there is a long term plan in place, so I will have faith in those in the know...however could they let us in on the plan as well please.

Atkinson at 15 improved over last week, but again it is not his position....he will have learnt from the experience.

I admire Feks ambition, we love an offloading game, but we do not have to score off first phase play every time. Play the conditions, use pragmatism and go through the phases, show patience and rewards will come.

We have much to learn....Mid table 7th-9th is where we are at on performances and as a club this year.

[mike909]

Whilst happy with performance at HT, we left too many points on the pitch and failed to convert in the red zone. I do think the starting centre partnership wasn't a success and whilst Dan played well and Jacob was fine - they too often didn't have people to pass to. And we seemed to be trying too hard too often.

It's an odd game where I look at the score and think "how can it be do close"? And I was still feeling that when Tommy scored. Sometimes you just have to take the points and move on. It really feels at times, as if we're paying, mentally, for the great run last season. As if our mental resilience is wafer thin and this means games like this and last week. Games where we'd done enough such that we ought to have won comfortably. But managed to not think and allow the opposition in, to win. This week, we were probably fortunate that Wuss were not at the races too often.

Laws and reffing. It's right to de-risk head contact. The application of the Laws around the tackle and ruck still needs work.  Players are still looking to go after ball that the Laws suggest (because it's a ruck) can't be competed for with hands. Because the refs still too often allow "players on their feet to compete", even when forbidden by the Laws, people are still putting their heads into what ought to be unnecessary dangerous situations looking to "turn over the ball". And, in terms of discipline, makes complying with the Laws harder and more random. Not that we were thinking well today.

[Chunky24]

Good coaches decision to restore pack to 8 when Morris was sent off by bringing on Vailanu for Kibirige.

Gutted for Ben Morris, been outstanding this season, at least he might be able to get his nose job done earlier now!

[Steve from Cov]

Wasps are a summer rugby team. Something else in dry conditions but poor when it is wet & slippy. My heart was in my mouth for most of the second half.

I missed Alo’s cameo appearance but thought West, Young and Shields played well. Personally, I thought Dan was trying to do a little too much. Atkinson and Umaga looked vulnerable under the high ball.

We are really missing our injured players.

[Wombles]

What concerns me is that I do not think we secured one turnover/jackal penalty throughout. YY used to be really adept at this, but now we seem to be missing this element of our game completely. This needs to be corrected.

[westwaleswasp]

What concerns me is that I do not think we secured one turnover/jackal penalty throughout. YY used to be really adept at this, but now we seem to be missing this element of our game completely. This needs to be corrected.

Refs have changed mid season on this. I think the post AI criticism of teams kicking has had an impact- if you penalise the guy on his feet competing and not the guy on the ground playing tug of war with a ball he is supposed to release, then teams are more likely to keep the ball in hand. I think the refs have moved towards favouring the team with the ball. The reason the AIs involving England were so bad was down to coaching and selection of players to play to a dull plan, but the resounding criticism after them seems to have made an English premiership that is harder on the jackal than anywhere else. It simply is not worth going for the jackal with half the prem refs.

[DGP Wasp]

Whatever was said at half time should be binned and never spoken of again.

First half, while frustrating that points were left out there, we were so dominant that I still felt it could only be a matter of time, and even the bonus point seemed inevitable. Then a different team emerged from the tunnel. For the first 20 minutes or so of that 2nd half we looked pretty clueless.

The red card did seem to provide a much needed jolt, and then in the last 8 mins or so when it was 14 v 14 we seemed to fluff our lines again. This still looks like a mentally very, very fragile team.

[hopwood]

Whatever was said at half time should be binned and never spoken of again.

First half, while frustrating that points were left out there, we were so dominant that I still felt it could only be a matter of time, and even the bonus point seemed inevitable. Then a different team emerged from the tunnel. For the first 20 minutes or so of that 2nd half we looked pretty clueless.

The red card did seem to provide a much needed jolt, and then in the last 8 mins or so when it was 14 v 14 we seemed to fluff our lines again. This still looks like a mentally very, very fragile team.

In all fairness, you have to flip your perspective too. Worcester did their homework and negated a lot of what was running smoothly for us in the first half.
It took us time to readjust after they started closing us down in areas we had been exploiting to good effect.
Dan didn’t have nearly the same freedom.
But you’re right in the fact that mentally we didn’t spot this quick enough.
As I’ve said before, if you hark back to the days of Waters, Abbott and King...those guys and their minds would be working the game like it was a game of chess.
We currently lack that ability in this side.
Not sure Jimmy has the legs left, but really hoping Ryan Mills adds some intelligence when he comes back.

I still think we need another rugby brain and leader in the backs. Too many quiet characters.
That’s why I think it’s a shame we didn’t nab someone like Mike Brown for a year or two.

[Shugs]

Granted it was a scrappy win against a distinctly average side. But I'll take the win. Positives for me were Robson, all the props and the back row. Plus the fact we won having been pressured at the end. I also thought Taylor was good and Umaga's kicking from hand and tee was good. I thought we improved when Taylor came on. Negatives was the first 30 of the second half when we gave away utterly stupid penalties with Gaskell, Rowlands and Fekitoa the main culprits - I think Blackett subbed Fekitoa because of it. It could just of easily have been due the centre pairing not firing again and costing us points. Kibirige remains anonymous and Atkinson at 15 is not for me. Still, it keeps us in the hunt for top 8 and we've won. Special mention for Brad Shields who, once again, was outstanding.

[Rossm]

Just finished watching the game. I can't understand why the penultimate scrum was a Wuss penalty. I don't know what it was for as we demolished them. Could it have been for not pushing straight?  If so, how can you push straight when there is absolutely no resistance and nothing coming back at you? Beyond me. Some of Tempest's decisions made me wonder if he was determined that we wouldn't win. After yellow carding a Wuss player, there was pretty much another immediate penalty in their red zone for offside and all they got was a warning! And I thought that obstruction was a penalty and not a scrum - though I could be wrong here.

Edit: Forgot to add that I'll take the win; however ugly.

[Covkid40]

After last week I said how long are we going to keep deluding ourselves and after today I can’t see anything has changed. Yes we won but only just against without doubt the worst team in the league, we were holding on in the end of your going to tell me we have good players and are not far away then the coaches need to answer some hard questions, if the coaches are good enough then the quality of the squad needs seriously looking at. Please don’t say we have injuries that are making a difference all clubs have injuries. For me Gabby will be a player with promise that over the next couple of seasons will drift down to the so called lesser teams in the league, just not good enough. Zach! What has happened to him he’s a passenger at the moment. Yes we will be better when players return from injury but some of those are a long way off and we will still pick up other injuries. Anybody that believes next season will much different from this unless we recruit well is I believe in for a massive shock

[HDAWG]

I wasn't very impressed to be honest, and I expected a better performance against Worcester. Don't think we'll suddenly improve this season. Next season after a decent pre season perhaps, but we'll see.

I'm still torn if we're worse than at the beginning of last season or not. But hey, at least we won.

[Peej]

Relieved we won, hopeful that might provide a bit of a boost. But also very concerned about how inaccurate we are, our lack of a clinical edge, and our mental fragility. Not sure this win dispelled any of that